Nefelibata
by Gentle Kiss
Summary: "Those who live in the clouds of their imaginations and dreams." To disobey the conventions of society was taboo, but she'd go insane in a world so cruel if she didn't dream. Her clouds rose higher than their walls, and there she would be safe.
1. Chapter 1: Sunflowers

**[AN]** 'lo. just a warning, I have no idea where the fuck I plan on going with this fic, but please bear with me. will there be ships? idfk. will there be disregard for some canon events? absolutely. for starters, I refuse to believe that Levi is 30, so in this fic he's going to be 24. oops.

because I'll be writing fairly short chapters, updates will be much more frequent. expect one every two to three days.

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><p><em>"I wish I were a girl again, half-savage and hardy, and free." -<em> Emily Brontë, _Wuthering Heights_

**Chapter 1: Sunflower**

Nephele longed for the day when she'd be taller than the sunflowers her mother tended to. She wanted to be tall and elegant like the models in her mom's catalogs, with their almond shaped eyes and hair like golden fabric.

Much to Nephele's chagrin, however, her eyes were too wide to be almonds, and her hair was like the deepest shade of the sun's flames when it's viewed up close. At least, that's how her mother, Ligeia, described it. It reminded Nephele of blood, so she shaved it off with her father's razor when she was six. Back then, it seemed like she'd have a promising future as a butcher, for she was able to shave her hair clean to the scalp without even nicking herself. Her father, Philo, was impressed and laughed it off, though her mother was horrified. Not because she elected to shear off her curly locks, but because of the hazard of a child wielding a blade and using it to cut their own hair.

Nephele was named after a Greek cloud nymph because she was born in April during a light rainstorm, and also because of her azure eyes, azure like the kingdom of the sky. When upset, the hues of her irises would become a dull gray, like clouds heavy with rain, and when agitated they would darken like thunderheads. But never did those clouds release their burden and rain upon the earth. Nephele never cried, since girls aren't pretty when they cry.

Nephele let the sky cry for her instead.

_- Three Years Ago_

"The sunflowers are vibrant today."

The sun was vibrant, too. It bore down on Nephele's back like a heated blanket, as if light had mass. She was the weeding the garden, her gloves covered in flaking dirt, brow glistening with sweat. Though she hated manual labor, she didn't mind gardening because all of the dirt and sweat was necessary to nurture such beautiful, fleeting life. That, and it was a rare moment during which she could spend time with her mother.

Nephele tucked a loose tendril of crimson hair behind her ear as she squinted her eyes up towards the sun. Her mother's hair resembled the golden sun's rays more than her own, she thought.

"You seem distracted today," came her mother's sudden intrusion on her idle thoughts. She was carefully gathering the ripe tomatoes into a woven basket, kneeling on the ground on the opposite side of the garden. Nephele plucked a dandelion out of the soil and deposited it in her own basket, which was half-filled with various weeds.

"It's just that I'm wondering when dad will be back from his hunting trip," she murmured softly, resuming her work at a more diligent pace.

"Well, he's going to be selling some of what he catches in Shiganshina. They pay higher prices for meat than this mountain village, because everyone around here hunts for their own meat anyways," she explained, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. Nephele's mother was very beautiful, but in an inexplicable way that Nephele herself didn't quite understand. It was a beauty that no amount of makeup and no piece of jewelry could enhance or grant.

"Okay."

The sun had risen high into the clouds, the kingdom of the Nephelae, when the heavy, rhythmic fall of horse hooves penetrated the silence of the Ambrosia family's humble cottage and garden. Nephele's mood instantly brightened while her mother's became confused.

"Dad!" exclaimed the young girl, smiling widely as she rose from the ground with her basket of weeds. She wanted to show her father all of her hard work.

Her mother rose as well, but with much less enthusiasm.

"No, Philo didn't take a horse." She glanced over at the small pasture where the family horses, Daisy and Jasmine, were grazing. "He took an oxen and cart." Whoever this was, they must be fleeing with the hounds of hell at their heels, for they drove their steed with terrified urgency.

As horse and rider rose above one of the hills surrounding the mountain upon which Nephele and her parents lived, it was confirmed that the rider was not her father. First, disappointment became the most prevalent emotion on Nephele's face, then bewilderment as she wondered who their visitor could be, and then shock upon seeing the emblem of the Garrison stitched onto the man's jacket.

The soldier pulled his frantic steed into a skidding halt in front of the fence surrounding the garden, which protected it from beasts who would wish to devour their crops. The stallion's hooves kicked up loose dirt as it struggled for purchase, showering the plants in soil, its nostrils flaring and its eyes wide from both fear and exertion.

"Is there a problem, sir?" inquired Ligeia, placing the basket on the ground so that she could wipe her hands on her thighs to dispel a bit of the dirt caked on her palms. The Garrison were charged with protecting the walls, so it was practically unheard of for them to stray so far behind them.

"T-Titans!" he wailed, his eyes filled with even more unfettered, instinctive fear than the horse's. Soldiers were supposed to be strong and disciplined. This man was nothing like how she imagined humanity's heroes to be. "Titans broke through Shiganshina, and punched a hole in Wall Maria. Everyone must evacuate behind Wall Rose!"

His hands were caked in blood, not dirt. It looked like the color of Nephele's hair, and she never wanted to see that color again. She wanted to tear her hair out and bleed herself dry, so that she'd be pure white, like a daisy.

"But isn't dad in Shiganshina?" Nephele whispered, too quietly for anyone to hear.

"Quickly! I'll alert the rest of your village. You must leave now!" he commanded, though it seemed that he wished he could be the one who got to escape immediately instead.

Without another word, Ligeia grabbed her daughter's wrist, making her drop the basket, the heap of weeds littering the garden. Hours of work just tossed aside, years of nurturing their small yet beautiful garden spent in vain, and a century of peace abruptly shattered.

The walls have fallen, and so too will the fences to their garden.

"But dad!" This time, Nephele screamed, digging her heels in the soil and uprooting the chrysanthemums in a feeble attempt to stop her mother from dragging her along.

"He probably already evacuated, sweetheart," mumbled Ligeia, her voice breaking. It sounded like she was also trying to convince herself that this was true.

Narrowing her doe eyes, Nephele wrenched her hand free, staring at the flowers she had just defaced. "Liar. You don't know that."

Abandoning her half-hearted attempt to reassure her daughter, Ligeia lashed out on impulse, her hand over her heart and her eyes wild. "Well, what do you want me to do, Nephele? March into Shiganshina and rescue him? He's probably already been eaten by a titan!"

Such blunt words made Nephele speechless, and her mother took advantage of her shock by taking her hand in hers more gently than she did before as dread marred her pretty face. That was when Nephele decided she didn't want to grow up to be like her mother. She wanted to be beautiful and dignified, even in the face of disaster. She wanted to cover up every dirty, ugly factor of humanity and make it gilded and golden.

"We have to go. There's still hope for all three of us, but only if we survive."

Nephele looked over her shoulder, facing south towards where Shiganshina should be. She didn't try to imagine the chaos that was surely brewing there. She was just looking for her father, hoping to see his silhouette rushing towards them in the distance. Instead, she saw several human shapes in the distance loping towards them, and she wondered if they were civilians escaping from Shiganshina. Yet something was odd about those silhouettes. They were too spaced apart from each other, rather than forming a congregation of people as one would expect, and their bodies, even from this distance, looked very disproportionate.

Upon seeing the figures, the soldier panicked, calling out to the pair. "Hurry! They're coming, you must get on your horses until you reach Trost. Don't stop until you get there, no matter how long it takes!" Then, with those as his final words to them, the soldier dug his heels into the horse's sides, urging it into a gallop, and rode away.

"Come, Nephele. We have no time to grab our things," Ligeia said as soon as the soldier began to leave, trying to use a more soothing tone than before.

Nephele was about to protest, adamant about leaving behind her belongings, but quickly resigned herself to silence. It would be imprudent and undignified for her to complain.

Ligeia tacked up the horses with haste while Nephele anxiously stared at the approaching figures. Those must be titans. They didn't seem too threatening, and Nephele would even go as far as to say that they were rather sluggish, but the titans were a few kilometers away so her depiction of them was far from accurate. On the hill where her house was situated, she had a clear vantage point, and was able to see the titans despite them being so far away.

Ligeia ensured than Nephele was on her horse first, boosting her up onto the saddle, then climbed onto the chestnut colored mare, Daisy. She pulled on the reins so that the Daisy would pull alongside Jasmine and Nephele so that she could address her daughter face to face.

"Philo probably took the boat out of Shiganshina, and is own his way to Trost right now. He'll be waiting for us, so we have to meet him there, okay?"

Nephele pulled her hood over her head, which she often wore to hide her hair, and looked down at her hands, which were tightly gripping the reins.

The only place her father would be waiting for her was the black abyss.

"Okay."


	2. Chapter 2: Daffodils

**[AN] **fuck. it's been a month since my last update. sorry I'm such a lazy fuck. I haven't been going on walks in the forest lately, which I sometimes do to feed my aesthetic needs and garner inspiration, but alas, so much anime, so little motivation for anything productive. I've got a bad case of senioritis.

on the other hand, I kinda know where I'm going with this fic for at least the next few chapters so that's a start I guess? reviews and ideas would be totes appreciated.

I hope none of you think Nephele is a mary sue because she's a bit feminine(?) girly girls are girls too

and finally, thank you to those who have followed, favorited, reviewed, and read this fic. it's nice knowing people enjoy what I write, and that we all feel such profound love for the lovely franchise that is snk

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Daffodils<strong>

The titans never killed her mother. It was humanity that sent her off to her death.

Titans eat people. They don't deliberately kill them by doing so. However, humans are different. They are aware that their actions result in death. Humans are worse.

"Here, before I go, take this," murmured Ligeia, removing the necklace she wore and placing it around the neck of her daghter. Rather than a metallic chain, the pendant hung from a black leather cord, which rested between her breasts because of how long it was. The pendant itself was a geometric design composed of small circles, which altogether formed a hexagon, inside of a larger circle.

"What is it?" Nephele quietly asked, rubbing the metal between her fingers. It was ugly, far too simple for her tastes.

"The flower of life."

Nephele tucked the necklace safely in her shirt, where the cold metal gave her bare skin goose bumps.

"I have to go now," she finally said, uttering the ultimatum that both of them already knew. Ligeia wasn't going to promise that she'd be back.

"Yeah."

Ligeia placed a warm, soft hand on the top of Nephele's head, smiling down at her. "You're sixteen now. Take care of yourself and try to stay alive. Everything I do, I do for you, so don't let my actions go to waste," she said, tears brimming her eyes. In another world, another time, Ligeia would have been the source of inspiration for many writers of tragedy. No one wrote anything of substance anymore.

Looking up at her mother for the first time in weeks, Nephele nodded solemnly, her eyes unreadable. They seemed to have developed that almond shape she always wanted because of how narrowed they usually are.

"I will live for you."

Smiling sadly, her face contorting somewhat as she struggled to suppress her emotions, Ligeia bit her lip and shook her head. "No, sweetie. Live for yourself."

Then, Ligeia let her hand fall and turned away before Nephele could see her crying, not even daring to raise her hand to wipe away her tears. Nephele watched as she climbed on top of a horse, joining a giant congregation of weary, bleak individuals astride their own steeds and some on foot, and waited until she heard an officer give a mighty, noble speech about how brave these mock soldiers were, and that they will surely achieve their first victory against the titans. His words elicited a stark sense of despondency amongst the crowd of civilians and soon-to-be soldiers, in which almost all of Trost was deafened by the sound of one handed claps.

No one said a word, and no one moved to even swat at a fly. This was their fate; to be sent off as bait for the Titans. It was quite surprising that not a single individual caused a scene given the circumstances. They were probably already too terrified by the prospect of capital punishment to bother trying to defy the King's orders.

Nephele was on the front lines of the silent crowd of soon-to-be-orphaned children when suddenly she heard whispers among a few of the older teenagers who had just narrowly missed the age requirement to be drafted.

"I bet the government is just recruiting all of these people so that they have less to feed," one of the boys murmured into his friend's ear, his scraggily beard scratching the other's clean shaven cheek, who turned his head away to avoid the bristles.

"Tch. You can say that again. It's a fucked up thing to do, feed the titans instead of us, but at least they can end the food shortage this way. Less survivors, less mouths to feed," he muttered back, crossing his arms as he craned his neck to glare up at the officer who was standing on top of Wall Rose along with several others.

"It just sucks for the younger kids who are going to be left orphaned. Those kids are the real victims."

'Your parents are going to die, too.'

The fates of every family was written on their faces instead of in the stars. Far above the walls was the limitless sky. Nephele stared at it as it loomed over her, and everything else. If only she could build a kingdom in the sky, transcending the laws of physics and the titans themselves, where they would never reach her.

She bit down on her tongue and tasted metal. Her eyes squinted, but it wasn't from the sun. How could they not be crying?

Nephele screamed until it felt like her lungs withered. She fell to her knees, and she wanted to shatter the sky with her voice, hoping to build a staircase with its fragments and travel even farther away from this place until none of it mattered anymore.

All eyes were on her except for the eyes of Ligeia. Once the silence was broken, the discordant sounds of wailing children filled the air. Several leaped forward into the horses' and footsoldiers' path of travel, searching for the familiar faces of the ones who raised them. Their force was easily suppressed by several members of the Garrison holding them back, rounding them up like cattle.

How could people do this to each other? What gives anyone the right to send others off to die?

Blood flooded her mouth as Nephele ruthlessly bit down even further onto her tongue. At the age of sixteen, on the cobblestone road that led to hell, Nephele became an adult. The prospect of death stripped her of all ignorance and naivety. She knew who the enemy was.

Humanity.

She would climb to the top. She would join the MP, graduating at the top of her class, and then weasel her way into upperclass society. Then, she would slaughter and succeed those who were in power, those who issued the order to send her mother, and the mothers of so many others, to their inevitable deaths.

They can take her life and her family, but they can't take her dreams.

'Kill them all... To the last.'*

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><p>Not many flowers grew at the cadet corps. There were too many people bustling about during almost every hour of the day running drills for there to be any room for life beneath their feet. Dozens of pairs of military-issued boots were constantly kicking up the dirt and grass, which, on top of it all, was infertile. The earth was hideous, the landscape was hideous, and worst of all, the uniforms were hideous.<p>

Nephele submitted somewhat and wore the attire issued to her, but the boots she refused to don. She opted for her favorite pair of black suede high heel boots. The heels were two inches, and yet she managed to maneuver in them better than if she were wearing any other footwear. To Nephele, it also seemed much more practical to wear them rather than the boots because she performed better in her heels anyways. She could walk in a perfectly straight line with her eyes closed in a pair of heels, but was unable to do so without them.

To pass the time by while the commanding officer -whose booming voice gave her a migraine- used various verbal and physical forms of intimidation on her fellow cadets, she began pulling off split ends on her hair, then letting the wind carry them away as it pleased. Soon, she ran out of dead hair, for it was already healthy and vibrant, so she started inspecting her nail beds. Grimacing, she wished they were pushed back a little bit more. She'd have to fix that once she had some free time.

When Nephele glanced up, she was surprised to see Commander Shadis bearing down on her like the almighty sun. Her expression betrayed her emotions, prompting Shadis to take advantage of her shock by screaming right into her face.

The saliva spewing from his mouth shocked her even more. She was utterly repulsed. There was nothing more disgusting than the human mouth, especially that of a weird old man like this guy.

"You! State your name and where you're from!" Shadis shouted, loud enough that her ears began to ring. It took every ounce of self-discipline not to punch him in the stomach.

"Nephele Ambrosia, a village near Shiganshina, sir," she briefly stated, her expression becoming placid once more as she saluted him. Her eyes were beginning to burn as he stared her down. His gaze then swept up and down her form, the travel his eyes underwent from her feet to her head being particularly brief. When he inspected her lower half, his eyes widened in disbelief as he noticed that she wasn't wearing the military-issued boots.

"Did you forget to change properly this morning, you underdeveloped shit?" he shouted again, hands behind his back where they usually were unless they were busy assaulting some poor, ignorant cadet. Nephele glanced down at her shoes, which were coated in a layer of dirt. She groaned inwardly.

"No, sir . I put these on deliberately, sir," Nephele said, trying to be at least somewhat passive with her sarcasm.

Shadis stared even more, hoping to instill fear and doubt in the girl, but even though she feared punishment like any sane person would, she tried not to show it. He'd only feed off of her fear and try to frighten her even more. "How do you expect to maneuver around in those? This ain't a fucking fashion show! This is the cadet corps. Here, if you don't take things seriously, you'll die from your impudence!"

Slowly but surely, Nephele's fear dwindled. It's just routine. Everyone gets verbally abused during their rite of passage, and this was no different, even if Shadis actually had something to complain about.

"I perform better in these than in any other pair of footwear that you could provide me with, sir," explained Nephele, still holding her salute.

"You'd do better without a pair of legs, you insignificant shit head! As you are now, you're nothing more than a pig waiting for slaughter."

'You said that already to that guy over there,' she thought.

Nephele decided to use the same tactic the other cadet had by agreeing with Shadis. "Of course, sir."

As satisfied as a man with a stick up his ass could be, Shadis gave her one last, condescending scoff before turning to his next victim.

Nephele pushed her sleeves up and rubbed one of her arms, trying to get rid of the goosebumps. Only then had it actually dawned on Nephele that she was a cadet. That was it, her rite of passage. Now, all that was left to do was graduate in the top ten, join the Military Police, and make this dystopic government implode.

She just didn't know how to achieve that goal, but the devil's in the details.

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><p>* this is actually what Eren says when he refers to wanting to kill the titans. in Japanese, the way he says "to the last" (ippiki nokorazu), is a way of showing his hatred for the titans. in the phrase, ippiki kind of refers to small animals and bugs. in other words, Nephele also feels the same hatred towards the current government as Eren does towards titans.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3: Tulip

**[AN]** I honestly think this is the fastest I've ever updated a fic. I'm usually slow at this, but I love SnK so much that I'm really eager to write it.

as for this chapter's quote, I chose it because of how incredibly misguided it is. a girl can be intelligent and still care about her physical appearance. when did it become taboo to wear makeup and do your hair? if this is some new "feminist" idealogy, it's an extremely dangerous one. feminism doesn't exclude femininity. not only that, but most of the female love interests that John Green writes about are manic pixie girls. this is another unfair, unattainable standard set up for women, and in his books if you don't fall under this category, you're less appealing. don't get me wrong, being quirky, liking video games and reading, does not make you any less of a person, but neither does wearing makeup and high heels.

that's why I made this character, Nephele. I made her as a slap to the face of the Mary-Sue stereotype. I like to put on a cute dress and heels every once in a while. does that make me a Mary-Sue?

now that I got that off my chest. rant over, and enjoy this shitty shit fic

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><p><em>"They love their hair because they're not smart enough to love something more interesting." -John Green, Looking for Alaska<em>

**Chapter 3: Tulip**

Nephele had no qualms with rain. It cleansed and gave life to the earth, after all. However, she didn't really appreciate having to run ankle deep in mud, her cloths soaked through and chilling her to the bone. Those stupid raincoats only covered so much, after all. On top of everything, this was one of those rare circumstances in which wearing her heels would have been extremely inefficient. They'd just sink tight into the mud, hindering her movement, and, worse, possibly getting ruined beyond any hope of restoration. So, she sucked it up and stuffed her feet in the boots. They didn't seem able to do their job, as her feet would squish in her socks with every step.

"Can't you run any faster? Even Armin is doing better than you!"

_'That's pretty easy for you to say, Shadis. You're on a fucking horse.'_

In this particular squad, being compared to Armin Arlert in terms of physical capability was considered one of the biggest insults, which Nephele thought was cruel but accurate. He was the most intelligent cadet in the whole corps, and many agreed that he'd make an exemplary strategist, but the kid wasn't too great outside of the classroom.

It was a pretty fatal blow to her pride to see Armin trudging along ahead of her, visibly exhausted but still determined as the group continued down the forest's winding path. The path would occasionally rise into steep inclines that took all of Nephele's energy to climb up, and sudden drops where the force of gravity was the biggest threat, and could send a person tumbling into a tree with one misstep. Tree roots rose from the earth in some places, and many cadets fell victim to them, tripping over the trees' outstretched legs and twisting their ankles during their falls.

Nephele observed as Reiner fell back into step with the other blonde. They exchanged words, then Reiner shouldered Armin's pack along with his own, but Nephele was unable to hear their conversation over the roar of pouring rain and the rise and fall of dozens of boots slapping down on the mud.

Her legs fell like anchors, her body ached, her stomach felt like it was being wrung like a dish rag, and she was about to vomit from exertion and embarrassment. That would not be pretty.

"Ah, fuck it. My feet are already wet and cold anyways."

Though Nephele had no idea why, she suddenly came to a stop, pulling off the atrocious boots and gray woolen socks, then tossed them into the forest's green depths. Unhindered by them now, Nephele summoned every last reserve of strength to push forward.

She would not fail. _'Kill them all, to the last.'_

Mud splattered all around her, but the steady onslaught of relentless rain kept her feet mostly clean Clean, but terribly cold. Nephele caught up with Armin in a few moments. He was breathing heavily, wheezing with each inhalation even though he was no longer carrying his pack. He blinked rain from his eyes, staring at her in surprise. Then, he glanced down at her feet, stunned to find that she was running barefoot.

"Ambrosia-san! What happened to your boots?" he shouted over the rain and Shadis, who was yelling at other cadets up ahead.

Nephele smirked, shrugged, and flashed a row of pearly white teeth. They weren't perfectly aligned, but it was evident that she cared a lot about oral hygiene.

"I ditched them," she replied, then quickly changed topics. "Are you really going to let Muscles over there get the better of you? Come on, Arlert-san! Have some faith in yourself!"

Never before had the two spoken to each other, yet Nephele didn't seem to care about their unfamiliarity. Armin never wanted this. He was so sick of being protected by others. Eren... Mikasa... It was bad enough when they were saving him from bullies, but against titans?

Never again will he let someone risk their life because he was too weak to save himself. 'Natural selection.' A concept he had about before and has feared ever since. He was weak, and natural selection was coming for him.

"I already know!" Armin's eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed. Nephele wondered if that was because of how hard he was pushing his body, or if it was out of spite for how weak he was.

Maybe it was both. Whatever it was, that expression fueled Nephele's spirit. It was evolving. No longer would she be a flower, rooted safely in her garden and ignorant of the world around her, waiting to be cut down. She was a bird now, and she was learning how to fly.

Armin grabbed his pack from Reiner, who watched, bewildered, as he ran onward.

"Come on, Ambrosia-san! Are you really going to let me of all people beat you?" he called out over his shoulder.

Grinning widely, Nephele pulled her hood down and let the rain wash the disease of self-doubt away.

"I'm right behind you."

Soon, the trees became blurred streaksof green as she passed them.

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><p>"She's pretty hot, I'll give her that."<p>

"I don't know. She kinda looks like a twelve year old."

"She's actually eighteen."

"Nice! An older woman."

"What does it matter?" Eren had had enough. He tried to seem less bothered by the conversation than he actually was by blowing on his bowl of soup to cool it off, the steam rising from the contents and warming his face. "Titans don't care how 'hot' you are when they're eating you."

Connie raised an eyebrow at Eren's comment, smirking mischievously as he scratched his shaven head. "Did Nephele do something to piss you off, Eren?"

Jean mirrored Connie's grin, leaning forward somewhat towards the brunette boy on the opposite side of the wooden table. "Yeah, Eren. Did she reject you or something?" he questioned.

"Of course not! It just pisses me off. She doesn't take her training seriously, always bitching about the uniform and showing up late to drills because she's too busy doing her makeup." By now, Eren's blood was boiling hotter than his unattended soup.

"I don't know," Armin intervened, coming to the aid of the girl in question. "She seemed pretty serious yesterday. I'm surprised she decided to take off her boots and get her feet dirty because she couldn't run well in them. I think that at least says she's dedicated." He took a sip of his coffee before quietly adding, staring into the brown liquid, "Nephele seems like a nice person."

Eren snorted, propping his chin up on his hand and absent-midedly scanning the dining hall for any sign of the short red-head. "Whatever. I'm just surprised she hasn't gotten kicked out yet."

Across the room, Mikasa spotted a flurry of deep red curls, and pointed in their direction. "Look. She's getting food."

Every person seated at the table - Jean, Connie, Armin, Eren, Mikasa, Sasha, and Marco- turned their heads to catch a glimpse of the "chick with a foot fetish" as Connie now liked to refer her as. He needed to come up with a shorter nickname. Maybe "Foot Freak?"

"Who is she friends with?" Marco wondered aloud.

"No one. Probably think she's better than everyone else," Eren muttered.

"Why are you being so mean?" Armin asked, frowning in disapproval.

"Because she's an insult to those of us who came here for a reason," he said, pointedly glaring at the back of Nephele's head as she piled potatoes, bread, and the scarce amount of vegetables that were available onto her tray.

"I'm going to talk to her!" exclaimed Armin, a determination flashing in his eyes.

Marco -bless his soul- smiled warmly and nodded, getting up from the bench. "I'll go with you."

One by one, all but Eren -and, by association, Mikasa- left the table to join Nephele. Eren scoffed in disbelief and started stuffing his face with food to busy himself.

"Eren, slow down. You'll choke," warned Mikasa, her expression a blank slate as usual. She didn't know Nephele, and had nothing against her because so far she hadn't risen a hand against her family, Eren, but of course she chose to stay by her step-brother's side rather than join the procession advancing towards Nephele.

"Don't patronize me, Mikasa," Eren grumbled. He then realized how inconsiderate he was being, sighed, and looked down.

"Why are you so upset?" Mikasa inquired, looking vaguely worried, but that shimmer of concern in her dark eyes was only the tip of the iceberg.

"It just pisses me off when people treat this like some kind of camp or vacation," he murmured, no longer in the mood to eat.

"Maybe Nephele is driven by a purpose as well. One that you don't understand because you haven't been in her position, just as she hasn't been in ours."

Out of words to say, Eren turned his head away and started staring at the bleak, oak walls with annoyance. "Whatever."

"Oh, hello, Arlert-san" a pause as Nephele scanned the faces of his entourage, "and company."

"Hey, Ambrosia-san. I hope you don't mind if me and my friends sit with you?" Armin asked innocently.

"Yeah, Eren's being annoying. As usual," Jean muttered.

Armin laughed nervously, and Nephele smiled softly in response to their request. "Of course. I don't mind. I'm Nephele," by the way, she said. This was followed by the stereotypical string of introductions, where everyone stated their names and awkwardly waited for someone to initiate conversation.

She started carrying her tray to an empty table, and the group awkwardly followed behind her, taking their seats around her.

'Is everyone here socially challenged?'

Without acknowledging them, Nephele picked up a slice of bread and delicately began nibbling away at it. Truthfully, she was somewhat upset that they didn't seem to be comfortable around her. Why was that? She wasn't at all intimidating.

"So, Nephele-chan," Marco began, trying not to be too overwhelming. "Where are you from?"

She glanced up from her food, making direct eye contact with Marco as she answered. Her mother taught her that this was the polite thing to do. "I'm from a small mountain village north of Shiganshina. What about all of you?" Redirecting the question after answering briefly; also a polite thing to do.

"Ragako village in Wall Rose," beamed Connie.

"Trost," was Jean's brief reply.

"Dauper!" Sasha said, smiling.

"A village in Wall Maria," said Marco.

"I'm from Shiganshina."

Everyone waited for Nephele's reaction to this revelation, but instead she just nodded somberly. She finished her bread. Sasha stared longingly at her potato on the tray, her eyes hazed over and a lopsided grin warping her features.

"A-Are you gonna eat that?" she asked, pointed at the potato as if she could somehow cause it to levitate into her mouth with her finger. Connie chuckled at her brash behavior as Jean rolled his eyes.

"You can have it." Nephele laughed a little as she picked up the potato with a napkin and reached over the table to hand it to Sasha, who eagerly snatched it then began eating it like an apple, without any butter or salt.

"You're a saint," Sasha mumbled around bites, groaning with happiness.

"You don't have any meat on your plate," Connie noted. All she had left was an apple and a small bowl of broccoli.

Nephele nodded in affirmation, picking up her fork and beginning to eat each piece of broccoli one by one. After swallowing, she stated, "Nope, I'm a vegetarian."

Sasha nearly choked around her potato, but was able to compose herself and swallow the last bite. "Seriously? Why?!"

Nephele shrugged, looking away. "I just don't think it's ethically right. Titans are humanity's predators, are they not? And humanity's goal is to win against them. So I just don't think it's right to eat animals when we feel such hatred towards titans for eating us, and then feel no guilt about it. If I am to eat meat, then I am to condone the actions against us made by the titans."

While Armin contemplated her reasoning, most everyone else stared at her in shock. Marco, however, gave her the thumbs up and smiled widely. "Good! We all need morals to follow, and I completely understand why you made that decision," he stated. Good old Marco, the moral compass of the 104th trainee squad.

"Than you," she smiled, eyes closed and head tilted.

"I get it, too," agreed Armin. "But understanding a person's reasoning and following their logic are two different things." He scratched the back of his head. "So please understand if I continue eating meat."

"Of course. I don't expect others to feel the same way as I do," she remarked.

Nephele had finished her broccoli, and stared at the apple as she contemplated what to do. Yawning, she finally rose from he seat, stretching until the bones in her back cracked satisfyingly. "Well, I'll be heading off now."

"But it's only eight o'clock," Jean said, wondering if she was tired at such an early hour. Maybe she was exhausted from today's drills.

"Yeah, are you tired?" Connie asked as well.

"Nah, I'm going on a run."

"But why?" Jean asked, chuckling and shaking his head. "You can get plenty of running in tomorrow."

"Yeah, Shadis would be happy to make you run around the barracks until you dug a trench," joked Connie.

"I like doing things at my own pace," Nephele said, her curls bouncing as she bowed to the group. "Thank you for keeping me company. Goodnight."

Nephele picked up her tray then turned on her heel, becoming a blur of red and tan, but stopped when she heard Jean behind her.

"W-Wait. Would you mind if I came with you?" he asked, looking to the side as if by doing so she wouldn't see the pink staining his cheeks. She turned towards him, head tilted slightly, and grinned.

"I don't know. Can you keep up?" she teased, pulling on one of the curls framing her face.

"Don't underestimate me," he warned light heartedly.

"We'll see," she replied, waving her hand at him over her shoulder as she went to return her tray, her heels making delicate taps every time they made contact with the floor. Nephele kept the apple. Jean kept smiling.

Once the pair had left, Connie leaned in towards the remaining cadets at the table, candles flickering precariously as the door opened and a gust of wind floated inside.

"Do you think Nephele is Jean's next victim?" he asked.

On the other side of the dining hall, Eren shared the same thoughts. "What the fuck is horseface doing with Ambrosia?"


End file.
